Godi Arts Scholarship

My journey in arts started with my great-grandmother and a her art lessons. My grandma tremendously influenced my grandpa, mom, sisters, and me. We would make the 21-hour drive from Georgia to Nebraska every Christmas to see my relatives. My parents would drop us off at my great grandma's; as soon as possible after driving across six states with four daughters cramped in a a Ford expadition. Grandma would craft with us and teach us how to do all sorts of arts from sewing to oil painting and drawing. As my she tried to keep me entertained I developed my love for the arts. As I grew up the interests I had developed, and thus my art evolved. I would obsess over things like horses or fairies and learn how to draw them as best I could. My creativity stems mostly from all the fantasy books I would read as a kid. The one that stuck out most and that has inspired me to this day was The Spider Wick Chronicles. Tony Diterlizzi was the illustrator for these books, and I fell in love with all of the whimsical creatures and his beautifully ary yet dark works. My works of art are mostly created with inks and I have been focusing on Portraits that use line and perspective strongly. I love to have a piece of work that the longer you look at it the more you notice little doorways into little worlds of fantasy and creativity. My drawings are meant to take to viewers out of this world and show them the beauty of nature and creations. I had amazing art teachers in high school and college that have helped me achieve new goals in my art journey. And Because of them, I wanted to become an art teacher. but as I've continued through my college experience I came to realize that I want to open a business that gives opportunities for artists to grow in their art journey as well. I had such an amazing community of artists that surrounded and supported me and one day in the future I want to be able to provide that to others. whether that be art teaching or helping creators sell their works. Community is needed in any aspect of life but I have found it is such a beautiful and needed thing in the art world. So as my journey continues to purge new grounds I want to build that community and make a way for an open studio that provides that for artists around the world. This business/studio would be a storefront for artists to sell but also a studio for artists to learn from each other and have a space to create as well as be immersed in the community. With this scholarship, I hope to continue on my art path and finish my college courses learning as much as I can to achieve that goal for myself as well as the artist in the future.